Advancements in videoconferencing technology have begun to pay dividends and, for some meetings, videoconferencing has provided a reasonable substitute for in person meetings. State-of-the-art videoconferencing systems provide dedicated cameras and monitors to one or two or more users, utilize innovative room arrangements to make the remote participants feel like they are in the same room by placing monitors and speakers at locations where a remote meeting participant would be sitting, if they were attending in person. Such systems better achieve a face-to-face communication paradigm wherein meeting participants can view facial expressions and body language that can't be achieved in a teleconference. Some of these systems allow content, applications, or computer screens to be shared. However, often times, such systems are lacking with respect to more collaborative meetings wherein two or more members might want to work together on a white board, or even simultaneously view a presentation and a speaker.
Even more recently, there have been advancements in collaborative systems wherein two or more users can remotely work on the same workspace, such as an electronic board that can function as a white-board and video monitor all in one. Such systems improve the ability of collaborators to work in a shared space, but have poor user engagement features. At best, these systems might allow for small video images of the remote users to be displayed on the electronic board while the rest of the board is reserved for collaboration space.
In an attempt to achieve the best aspects of both collaboration systems and videoconferencing technology, sometimes both of these systems will be deployed side-by-side. However, this approach leaves a lot to be desired as the two systems are not integrated, and neither technology is configured to account for the presence of the other technology in a seamlessly integrated manner.